Posted 04.13.01
The American Society of Newspaper Editors' (ANSE) annual convention at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington managed to make a little news of its own last week. The event featured a performance by the comedy troupe the Capitol Steps, which included a skit about current U.S.-China relations in which one performer portraying a Chinese official shouted, "Ching ching chong chong," as he gestured wildly with his hands. College student Amy Leang wrote about feeling "humiliated" by the performance in a story in the conference's newspaper, and minority groups condemned the performance. Leang--who was there as part of a program for minority journalism students--astutely pointed out that the skit didn't jibe with the conferences' recurring talks about the importance of diversity in the newsroom (which included a study ASNE publicized widely). The assocation's president told The Washington Post, "ASNE had nothing to do with the skit," but the snafu certainly scored the group some bad PR.
Inside Your Industry Archives...
The American Society of Newspaper Editors' (ANSE) annual convention at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington managed to make a little news of its own last week. The event featured a performance by the comedy troupe the Capitol Steps, which included a skit about current U.S.-China relations in which one performer portraying a Chinese official shouted, "Ching ching chong chong," as he gestured wildly with his hands. College student Amy Leang wrote about feeling "humiliated" by the performance in a story in the conference's newspaper, and minority groups condemned the performance. Leang--who was there as part of a program for minority journalism students--astutely pointed out that the skit didn't jibe with the conferences' recurring talks about the importance of diversity in the newsroom (which included a study ASNE publicized widely). The assocation's president told The Washington Post, "ASNE had nothing to do with the skit," but the snafu certainly scored the group some bad PR.
Inside Your Industry Archives...
